Damon Smith

PREPARE for the return of awesomeness in Jennifer Yuh Nelson’s energetic martial arts comedy which kicks computer-animated butt and comes close to matching the rumbustious fun of the 2008 original.

Screenwriters Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger flashback to overweight panda Po’s tortured past as the inspiration for this tale of identity and retribution, taking the story into far darker territory.

However, Jack Black’s whirlwind vocal performance provides a generous smattering of belly laughs and the visuals are gorgeous and colourful, notably in the frenetic set pieces which punctuate the narrative.

The introduction of the 3D format almost warrants the additional ticket price, adding depth to the gorgeous rolling landscapes of ancient China replete with bamboo forests and ornate palaces.

Younger audiences will get just as much fun though from the traditional 2D version without the discomfort or distraction of the plastic spectacles.

Overweight panda Po (voiced by Black) is living his dream as an all-action bear, honing his skills under the watchful eye of mentor Shifu (Dustin Hoffman).

However, he is haunted by fragmented memories, which eventually reveal how his father came to be a goose called Mr Ping (James Wong).

It transpires that an evil peacock Lord Shen (Gary Oldman) is the cause of Po’s deep emotional wounds.

Spurred on by a dire warning about pandas from an elderly soothsayer (Michelle Yeoh), Shen and his army of snarling wolves are on a collision course with Po, armed with a deadly weapon that could bring China to its knees.

The action sequences are bigger and more complex but still fall short of the intricacy of Pixar’s most recent pictures.

Hopefully DreamWorks Animation will have learned lessons about animated sequels from Shrek, which dazzled us in its original incarnation but became a creatively empty husk by yesteryear’s Shrek Forever After.

Alas, the feel good revelations at the end of Kung Fu Panda 2 suggest that as long as box office tills ring, there will be more chapters in Po’s journey of self-discovery.

Having achieved inner peace in this instalment, expect Kung Fu Panda 3 to tackle global child obesity by having its rotund hero achieve outer peace through a crash diet.